The expression a passive component means resistors, capacitors and coils, while active components include transistors, thyristors or diodes. In this case, the passive components can be provided directly on the semiconductor chip material by appropriate structure of suitable metal layers and isolation layers, which are normal during the production of a functional active semiconductor chip, to form capacitors or coils. In contrast, the resistors are normally provided in the semiconductor material of the semiconductor chip.
While the provision of capacitors is assisted by the flat structure of semiconductor chips, the provision of coils on these semiconductor chip surfaces is disadvantageously restricted to spiral coils. Coils which, for example, surround a ferromagnetic, ferrimagnetic or paramagnetic coil in a helical shape are virtually incompatible with the manufacturing methods for semiconductor chips.
However, it is known for transformer structures to be incorporated in dielectric plastic panels, with the coil turns surrounding a transformer core in a helical shape. For this purpose, a substrate in the form of a plastic panel is prepared by means of milling and drilling for the accommodation of the coil core and vertical segments of the coil windings. Preparation such as this for incorporation of core material and vertical coil segments is, however, impracticable in the case of conventional semiconductor components with at least one semiconductor chip in plastic encapsulation.